The second testing day at the Ricardo Tormo finished with Dani Pedrosa and Casey stoner setting the two fastest times, as they did yesterday
Under perfect conditions with no wind and an air temperature of 20 degrees, Pedrosa completed 45 laps and recorded the day’s fastest time with a 1’31.807 on lap 12. Team mate Stoner did 33 laps on his RC213V and logged the second fastest time of the day on his 15th lap with a time of 1’31.968.
This final testing day of 2011 saw both riders fine tuning elements of their 2012, 1000cc machine. As well as testing the new 2012 Bridgestone tyres, both riders worked on general set up of the machines, Dani Pedrosa also worked on engine mapping and rear shock set up, and Casey Stoner focused on reducing chattering in the front.
Feedback from both riders will be taken back to HRC in Japan, to further develop the RC213V in preparation for the next test in Malaysia, taking place at the end of January 2012.
This two testing days were also used by the engineers of the Repsol Technology Centre and Honda HRC to continue with the intense working program started many months ago to develop the fuel and lubricant for the 2012 Honda RC213V. This development, both of the 1000cc engine and of the fuel and lubricant, will be done jointly by Honda HRC and Repsol. In that way the maximum performance from both elements will be obtained.
The new Repsol fuel aims to take from the new 1000cc engine the maximum power, top speed and usability with the proper power output for each situation that can be found in a circuit: straights, corners, acceleration… While working on that objective, consumption is also taken into account. It is a very important parameter because the tank has a limited capacity of 21 litres, as per the International Motorcycling Federation (FIM) rules.
Dani Pedrosa >> Audio
1:31.807, 45 laps, 180 km.
“We had another good day of testing today. Basically we’ve been working on the engine mapping, to better manage the power of the bike, and with the rear shock. The changes we’ve done on the bike from Brno to here have been positive and we finish the year with a good feeling. It will be interesting to go to Sepang and continue working under very different conditions, with harder tyre compounds and a much higher track temperature. In general, I’m leaving Valencia in a good mood, more for the improvements we’ve made than for the lap times, which are not so important for me in winter testing”.
Casey Stoner >> Audio
1:31.968, 33 laps, 132 km.
“Everything has gone pretty well to be honest, on the first day we just needed to compare the bike to the one we tested earlier in the year. There have been a few small improvements especially in terms of the bike working with the new 2012 tyres. The front tyre gives us quite a lot of chatter so this is something we are trying to improve and the new bike helped with that slightly but we’d still like to improve that point a little more. Something we’ve had since last season with the 800’s is a lack of feeling and some chatter coming from the rear on the way into the corner which is something we still need to improve with the RC213V but we believe we know the direction to go in to improve this situation. Overall it’s been a positive test and it’s the end of a long season! I’m looking forward to going home now and having some rest, enjoying time with family and friends and preparing for the arrival of our child in February, then we’ll be back revitalised and ready for 2012”.
